Wood Ants at Arne

Despite the very cold temperatures the wood ants at Arne were fairly active and provided a great macro subject.

Insect Safari including First Damselfly

A few insects from recent garden forays including the first Red Damselfly on April 24th.

Switzerland 7. An Hour with the Wood Ants

On our last day in Switzerland, I decided to do an easy 90 minute walk down from Wengeralp towards Wengen but, of course, I got distracted on the way down by various insects including several nests of Wood Ants. I spent an hour at one site where the ants were returning to the nest along a tree trunk lit by dappled sunlight through canopy. They were either carrying nest material (first 5) or prey for the larvae. I now want to know whether they have a division of labour - some do nest material, some food or if it is serendipitous. Dragging the spider  to the nest was a real problem as the ants on each of the 8 legs pulled in different directions.